We are still without power. I called the electric company again and the auto messAge said to be patient they are working as quickly as they are able. The messGe did indicate that we at not have power before Tuesday. I am tired thinking about that. We are not the only ones around here without power but we are luckier than most. It is just inconvenient. Today was a lovely day, well it was overcast but the trees are gorgeous in a destructive sort of way. Thinking that all this ice and snow sparkles but it is so destructive to the trees. We can hear the snapping and popping in the woods.

We heard that down in the valley which is about forty miles from here they received twenty inches of snow and that the trees are breaking as well.

Star I hope you find time to stay with us a while. Bring your sense of humor and jump in.

Cindy I am glad that someone came and helped you fix the flat. What a pain isn't he neck that was. I am so geographically challenged when it comes to the modest that I thought Illinois was west of Missouri and that you would be on the eastern border to get near sT Louis. Now tomorrow I will make a point of going down to the U.S. Map on the wall to check out your location. A little embarrassed.

I never thought about my waking i the night and sweating as being related to blood sugar. So, now I will have to do an experiment. I have been trying to drink more water before bed as our dear Thelma suggested. Now I will try rolling myself out of bed and eating. What type of blood do you have. I was reading a Eat by your Blood type book and it suggested that O blood is more prone to ketosis than the other blood types. That is probably why fasting blood sugars in the morning do me in.

I hope you have a good time Bunny. I am glad you took the risk regardless of whether you connect or not.

Dogs are fickle creatures. I hope you get by your funk. C was telling me that she s not doing well and describing all of the characteristics she used to ha before she started her period. I did suggest that maybe she might bleed and she told me she hoped I bit off my tongue. I guess you are way past this possibility as well and not even funny to think about it. LOL. I hope the days lengthening help out. I hope the work on the new house progresses smoothly.

There is supposed to be a meteor shower tonight so that if any of you have clear skies step outside.

Bunny you have the right attitude. Just have fun and enjoy some male company and don't worry about where it might lead. Now that you've stuck your toes in the water, you might find a few more frogs out there to kiss. I hope so, because we need some entertainment on here.

Holly you are a trooper to be cheerful with no elec for all this time. Does this mean the laundry is piling up? That is a lot of snow! Bet it's pretty, but I would not want to get out in it even to go to the grocery store. I do not know what my blood type is. I once had a card to carry with me but now I have no idea. Owww....that C just has no sense of humor, LOL.

We are going to the city to have a little fun. Today we worked on mowing and weeding. I'll try to post a pic of how the sky looked if I can. Not quite so dreary.

I was diagnosed with hypoglycemia when I was 35. Should have it checked again I suppose. I think now my problem may be thyroid related. Or both. Whatever it is, waking up every two hours is the pits. I'm taking three drops of iodine a day, per doctor B. Too soon to tell if it's going to help.

Is everybody ready for Christmas? B was in a religion that did not recognize Christmas so he still doesn't. No need to wonder what I'm getting.

Today I took Penny and Lola to the vet for their annual check ups. They get sick from all the shots so I only got rabies shots and they still feel bad. Guess whose lap they want to be on now? Yep, they want their mommy. We will wait about a month and get the parvovirus and distemper and that will make them sick again. They had to have blood tests because I let their heart worm meds run out. I don't think it's much of s risk but the vet says it is. Also Penny has teeth problems and he wants to clean her teeth, which involves sedation. I dread that. We are going to wait about a month.

The power came back on this morning at 6:15. I am so relieved. Yes, the laundry was piling up . DdK was up when the power went back on and started a load right away. She was not going to risk not having it done if it went out again. She also went around and flushed all of the toilets right away.

A friend from my herb class came today and we tried to go for a snow shoe in the woods, we did for about an hour and a half but the trees were all bent over and stuck in the snow so it looked like an upside down basket I the process of being woven. We shook off the branches as we went by so the y would not be so heavy and would spring back up. I think there will be a lot of firewood to be cut this summer.

Maybe you could celebrate Twelfth night or the Solstice with gifts. Didn't the B's religion have gift day each month? One of those no winter holiday religions around here has gift day. It seemed very stressful to the mother that was shopping at the last minute. I have a hard time imagining having that anxiety each month. It seems that would cut out none of the commercialism of this of year. I hope you can coe to some sort of a compromise. Have a great time in the city.

We have most of the presents bought. A couple of the children we still need to fill in. I forget that the big day is getting closer.

Our big dog Joey can only go to the vet with outrage Brittany, Beecher. His anxiety goes through the roof and he growls like he is going to bite the vet, when he got by himself . He is a sweet dog when he goes with Beecher.

Star, welcome, welcome, welcome. I remember reading a post from you before because I love your farmgirl name. We are so happy to have you join us.

Holly, you have had a lot of interrupted service for this early in the season. I hope it gets a bit better for you all.

Marie, it would be discouraging to have to fight for the kid's attention when you are giving so much.keep up your good work, so many of these little ones just need some one on one attention for any reason!

Gg, I am always second best with the dogs. The crumbs are a big draw. every once in a while I get my nose out of joint over it, too. Sorry to hear how idiotic your sister is being. Still waiting for mine to pull her head out of...never mind.

Bunny, it sounds like your new guy is a friend of ours, down to the description of his house! I hope you have a great time for a long time. Thanks for sharing this with us.

Today, dh and I burned some of the piles of brush from the storms. we had a few trees that had come down during the last few storms. It was a really nice day. The fire smelled wonderful, until we came inside and then we smelled like the fire and it wasn't as nice.

Dd came to help me celebrate my birthday early. We started a puzzle, one thousand pieces, titled "Crazy Santa's" . The Santa's aren't really crazy, but there are a crazy number of Santa's in the puzzle! It is a fun puzzle and we got to do a lot off talking while we worked on it.

Oh and had two sales today. One was the sweater dress from the last magazine issue.

GG, my kids and I stopped doing presents. It is nice to get gifts, but when money is tight, it can be a pain. It actually was a relief when we stopped. Christmas at my house was just nice having everyone there, good food and just hanging around watching movies. I miss it so much. Much more than gift giving.

Holly, so glad the electricity is back on. Good for DdK for taking the inititiave and starting the laundry.

Marie, I hope you can find a way to earn money doing something you enjoy. It does get old being a volunteer all the time.

Great news on the sales, Bunny! Now, when are you going to meet Johnny?

We are getting our city fix. We have to take Bs car to the nearest customs office which is at the airport. The traffic to get there is awful so he's going to be a nervous wreck and I have to go with him to help him find it so I will be a nervous wreck. It seems like there is always so much to do.

Holly I hope your elec stayed on and you are able to get caught up. I've only been out of electricity for longer than a few hours once or twice, when we had hurricane force storms in Houston way back in the 70's. It is no fun.

I tried to correct last night's post and it would not let me correct, and it would not let me delete the post. So ignore the weird thing I did.

Mar we have a lot of piles of brush that we need to burn but we are usually under a burn ban due to dry conditions. Probably will do it in the early spring.

We are going out to eat fish and go to a movie. Good night all. I found a fish house that serves fish and chips for DH and ruby red trout for me.

Hi! Our burn was successful and we thought wee would burn again today, but the wind really picked up. It is blowing hard and it makes me think I am cold. We had out horse friend here earlier than normal which meant early dinner time for the horses. That suits them fine, but my Catholic guilt while make me get up early to feed them in the morning knowing they will be hungry early.

I am making progress on the Crazy Santa's puzzle. It isn't as much fun by myself though. Tomorrow it's hair shop day for mom and then i need to do some Christmas shopping for dd.

Bunny, our slightly disheveled, collector friend is named Steve. He lives in Spokane.

Holly,I hope things are returning to normal at your house.

Bunny, I think you are smart to enjoy your holiday in the way that made the most sense to you. Being together for the holiday for the first time in years is the best part of our holiday. I spent most of my birthday celebration day choked up because we were all together. What else matters?

Marie, are you going out for a special meal for the holiday? How was your breakfast with Lowell?

G, the restaurant sounds liked a win/win for you two. Hope it didn't disappoint.

We had electricity all day but we did not have telephone service. I used C's phone to try to call to see if it s just us or everybody and it was everybody. The day was quiet without the phone ringing.

Our big accomplishment for the day was writing Nana And Papa their winter holiday letters. They are dsC and dsG's grandparents from Texas who have kindly agreed to be DsR's grand parents as well. It is not a big task but one with a lot of pieces.

Sorry to have missed yor birthday Mar. I hope you had a lovely day. Do the horses get wiggy with the smell of smoke?

Congratulations on the two sales Bunny. When the children ask me what I want for winter holiday or y birthday I tell them I want a nice letter telling e about the good times they emmer. They tell e that is an awful present.

I made fried fish for supper on Friday. I thought it was pretty good. I do not know how they make it in Britain.

So glad your power is back Holly! Thank you everyone for the warm welcome.

We had our annual Gingerbread Day with our extended family are our house yesterday and it was so much fun. I always tell my husband that making memories for all these children and grandchildren is hard WORK! But it was so fun...and the house still smells like gingerbread today....lovely...

The new hens have really gotten into their stride with laying eggs...we got 22 today...hooray...

Star, that's a lot of eggs!! Especially if you start getting that many every day. Fresh farm eggs are sooo much better than anything available in the stores. I pay almost $5.00 a dozen for organic eggs at the store.

Don't feel guilty, G. sometimes we just blow. It is disappointing those times that it is barely noticed....

Star, we used to make gingerbread houses every year. They never went to waste. They smelled so good the entire season and then the horses ate them. Some years it was difficult to find the interesting candies. Teddy Grahams were always helpful to populate our small village. The guys, dh and ds, always thought THIS was the year they would be successful in building a two story house. So theirs were never very pretty! We couldn't find a day to get together for it this year, but I know we will continue.

I took mom to have her hair done, then to target, the dollar store and Jo Anns. She is pretty tuckered out. I feel like I got to put the kid down for a nap! I hope you all understand what I mean and know I am not trying to be mean. tomorrow is food shopping and we will stop at Costco for our Christmas ham. So, Another busy morning for mom...

Dh is putting mudflaps on the prius. (Sounds like they belong on a Mack truck, but they are barely noticeable and with the rain we get...) It has him a bit wigged out - drilling holes in a new car! I am staying out of the way. It has me a bit wigged out, too.

I am almost done with my cabled cowl. It is very pretty. I am proud. Almost time to pick the next project. Exciting.

Thank you for the birthday wishes. It was my 53rd. And I was treated very well.

I'm so far behind on my reading I feel like I can not catch up. Therefore, I'm just going to start where I can. The puppies are so cute! Sorry that they have vet issues!

Sounds like everyone has been very busy. Sorry to hear that the lights were out for so long. Glad they are back on!

Nothing real exciting around here, just busy getting ready for Christmas. We no longer gift the Adults but the little ones are the focus. I've been busy sewing and knitting gifts for the kids. Now that I have a GS that will be 18 months for Christmas it is very magical for me. Our family has a history of making all our gifts so I look forward to bringing the little ones into the fold.

Thinking that next year my GS will be plenty old enough to start making gifts to give. Hope to start this summer working with him.

I think I mentioned earlier in a post that when I cleaned my craft room that I found a bunch of UFO's. Have now finished 3 of them and am working on another one. Won't have them done by the new year but will have a good start! LOL

Hope everyone has a great evening.

Theresa

As my Grandpa use to say "There is never a road so long that there isn't a curve in it".

GG, your issues with the man are a big reason why I'm wondering if I really want a relationship. Sounds like some therapy is a good start. However, I tried it with both husbands and they didn't make much effort to make things better. Why should they, we fix everything anyway. They figure we can just work around them and they don't have to do anything. But you have to at least try.

Mar, bless you for your patience. I'm sure she will become even more childlike as time goes on. Hope DH is helping out too.

Theresa, what a fun activity with the gingerbread houses. We never did that in our house. But it sounds like fun. So nice to have you back!Marie, than you for the card and cool little foldy star shapped thing. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas.

I have been under the weather all day. I haven't been sleeping well at all. So then I'm tired all day. Then I had one of my swallowing incidents and that really messed up the day. So fibro pain is back. Hoping it is temporary. Haven't heard from Johnny yet. I left the ball in his court. He lives about 45 minutes away and comes into town for supplies every once in a while. So we are suppose to do lunch next time he comes to town. I picked the place already and I might hear from him tomorrow for a Wednesday meet. I told him I was busy Thursday and Friday. Doing worry, I'll let you know all about it.

Holly, hope your power is still on and everyone is staying warm and busy! Not driving you crazy.

Years ago like thirty someone made us a barn gingerbread house with a gambrel roof. She made it out of graham crackers and a lot of icing. It was about eighteen inches long. It must have taken incredible patience to get it to stand up. Thank you for the reminder, I am going to try to get it together to do with the little boys.

I guess talking with the B as you go into the store and having him set an alarm to give him an alert that his time is up. I heard from a woman who has a son who is ADD and her doctor said if r son had diabetes would you not teach him ways to deal with his illness? So, now as frustrating as it is she slows down and does it. I understand that the B is a grown man but he has so many good qualities that creating situations in which the ADD gets the best of him and you is not fair to either of you. I recognize that he should have learned coping methods by now but he clearly hasn't. So, don't beat yourself up expecting from him what he is not capable of offering right now. Off my soap box now.

Bunny, sorry you hurt. If lunch happens I hope it is fu. N.

Mar, such a young thing. Tongue in cheek smiling. G thank you for the birthday wishes. I will be 58 on the 27th.

Today was overcast most of the day. Temperatures in the high twenties.

Thanks for your interest, g. I will post a photo. I had intended to give it to dd (surprise) so we'll see if it is a hit.

I got most everything for our Christmas meal. Consequently, there is very little room in the fridge. Mom had bean very interested in what she could make for the meal and I suggested she make the scalloped potatoes. She agreed and then found a heat and serve pack at Costco. I told Dh NO. And yet, somehow there is a pan of heat and serve scalloped potatoes in my refrigerator. BUT, I did buy the potatoes and I well be making potatoes from scratch. I need to have some say on what I serve at the holiday meal I am making.there have been a couple of instances of my wishes being ignored along these lines. Mom has an intense interest in food.I am less interested in food, but I am very interested in what I am serving my family. Anyway, I am trying to just go with the flow...Mar

I've been a little under the weather so I haven't posted. I got my flu shot last week and soon after, I started coming down with this rash. It's all over my trunk and on my arms and legs and it itches like crazy. I've also slept from 12-14 hours each day the past few days. Feel a little better now. I see a doctor tomorrow. I think it's an allergic reaction to the shot. I had an allergic reaction to some antibiotics back in September and the info. that came with the shot had something about people who are allergic to antibiotics might do best not getting the shot. I've gotten it for the past ten or fifteen years and this has never happened before. It's weird--I was always healthy when I was young, but in the past ten years, I've had pneumonia twice, developed asthma, and have these new allergies. I'm taking the reishi mushroom extract to build up my immune system. I'm almost ready to see an herbalist healer. Regular medicines seem to have such adverse side affects. I did take Jaxon to get his picture taken with Santa. It turned out pretty good. He was jumping around a lot so his tongue was hanging out, but he's still a charmer. GG--it's good that you count your blessings. A man who will hold your hand throughout a movie is rare. Holly--there is an old issue of MJF that has instructions for making a gingerbread barn and animals. Don't remember what issue it is. I love the smell of gingerbread baking more than I enjoy eating it.Bunny--I hope Johnny turns out to be a frog prince. Heck, I'd settle for a knight in tarnished armor at this point. But I don't see anyone on the horizon.Mar--I'm worried about my mom. I know she's stressed from looking after my dad, but it seems like she's been forgetting lots of things, or being confused about things. I think it's just stress. Hopefully I can get her to attend the support group my cousin is starting in January. She asked me tonight about the day care the hospital offers for Alzheimer's patients but realistically, I know my dad would hate it. He doesn't want to be with "those old people". But she needs a break from him. Badly.It was cold and windy today. Cindy

"Come by the hills to the land where fancy is free; And stand where the peaks meet the sky and the rocks reach the sea.Where the rivers run clear and the bracken is gold in the sun. and cares of tomorrow must wait till this day is done"--Loreena McKennit "In many ways, you don't just live in the country, it lives inside you"--Ellen Eilers